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Wise, Archer, Cooke, Clay, Grayson and Montague counties are having the first North Texas Pecan Show Dec. 4 in Montague.

The show is an opportunity for any county resident with a pecan tree to learn more about pecans and compete for bragging rights for the best pecans in the county. The event, which will be held at the Montague County Annex at 11339 Texas 59 North, starts at 9 a.m. when show officials begin processing the pecans – cracking, weighing and classifying them.

Beginning at 1 p.m. Dr. Bill Ree, Extension program specialist, will judge the pecan entries and give a presentation on late season pecan problems in association with pecan scab, pecan weevils, web worms and pecans not filling.

To attend the program only, RSVP before Nov. 30 by calling pecan show superintendent Justin Hansard at 940-894-2831 or email him, justin.hansard@ag.tamu.edu.

Pecan entries will be accepted at the local Extension office until Nov. 30. The following rules apply:

1. Pecans must be from the current year crop (2017) and have been grown by the entrant. Pecans should be shown in the county where they were grown. Out-of-county entries are permitted if there is no county pecan show where they were grown (pecans can be entered in only one county pecan show). The grower must be the exhibitor.

2. The grower may submit only one entry per variety. Any number of different seedlings, known hybrids or natives may be entered. All the nuts in the entry must be of the same variety (nuts from different trees are permitted so long as they are of the same variety). Entries with mixed varieties will be disqualified. Pecan varieties will be judged in one of the three divisions – commercial, natives, and classic and new.

3. Pecan varieties have been assigned to each division. The natives division includes entries for the smallest pecan determined by the greatest number of nuts per pound.

4. The grower must enter 50 nuts of a single variety. The finest nuts should be carefully selected in preparing an entry. Nuts should be uniform in shape, size and general appearance. Consistent show winners select nuts one by one for their entry. Entries with nuts that have been cut, sanded, polished or otherwise altered will be disqualified. Avoid entering green nuts or those affected by pests or disease. The entry must be securely bagged or boxed and include a tag or label with the county where the pecan is grown, entrant’s name, address, telephone number, email (if applicable) and the variety of pecan. This will help the winning entries for that county continue to regional.

5. Pecans winning their varieties will continue on to regional and then state.

6. Cost is $5 per variety entered or a maximum of $20 per producer or homeowner for as many varieties as they would like to enter. If you don’t know your variety, it will be labeled and put in the correct category.